


Tessalate

by theycallmeriot



Category: DC Extended Universe, Justice League - All Media Types, Nightwing (Comics), Young Justice (Cartoon), Young Justice - All Media Types, Zatanna (Comics)
Genre: Boy wonder, Chalant, F/M, aster - Freeform
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-28
Updated: 2020-09-28
Packaged: 2021-03-08 03:48:53
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 9,567
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26699314
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/theycallmeriot/pseuds/theycallmeriot
Summary: Tessellate: verb [ I ] - (of shapes) to fit together in a pattern with no spaces in betweenA collection of Chalant drabbles so we can all feel the aster! It starts before the new's year kiss.Warning: angst! happy ending
Relationships: Dick Grayson & Zatanna Zatara, Dick Grayson/Zatanna Zatara
Comments: 2
Kudos: 17





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> I completely fell in love with the easy and fun relationship between Dick and Zee and wasn't ready to let go. In this universe, Babs exists as former Batgirl, current Oracle, and is friends with Dick, tho they haven't date (nor will).
> 
> Hope you like it!

  1. **THE START OF SOMETHING NEW**



  
  


> **Forelsket** • /forɛlskəd/ ( danish) (n.) • the euphoria you experience when you are first falling in love.   
>  Ex. When I saw Dick outside my school on saturday I felt forelsket.
> 
> _ extracted from Zatanna’s personal dictionary “Words Collected Around The World” _
> 
> “Life is so simple. A little boy, a little girl, laughing and loving, tryin' to figure out the world”
> 
> _ (Is that alright? - Lady Gaga) - extracted from Dick Grayson’s playlist “feel the aster” _

  
  


— How is called again? — Zatanna asked, turning her face to meet Robin’s. 

They were really close now, the boy wonder half behind her in his full superhero attire, mask and all, holding her wrist with a goofy smile while demonstrating the movement to throw the weapon

— Batarangs. — he indulged, making her giggle — But you already know this.

— Yeah, but it’s a funny word. I can’t believe you ’ve convinc ed Batman to use it.

— I’m a very persuasive person.

She rolled her eyes with a cheeky smile.

— And yet you fail to convince me of why I need to know how to throw bat-shaped shuriken on a target.

— Because, — he lowered their arms, never letting go of her wrist and caressed for just a split second. Her skin was so soft and warm, he was always trying to find ways to touch her — you never know what bad guys will do. You need your mouth to cast the spells, Z. What if they gag you?

Zatanna shifted her weight, a little disturbed by the thought, turning her gaze for their now intertwined fingers. Her father had allowed her to train with Black Canary and the others twice a week after school and she was giving everything she got in order to be a part of the team, but she still wasn’t nearly as skilled as Me’gann, let alone Robin or Artemis. Zatanna was a clever girl, she knew that if somehow an enemy like Witch Boy found a way to make her speechless she would be easily overpowered.

— Fair enough, boy wonder — she conceded with a sigh — show me how to do it again. 

Robin rewarded her with a large victorious smile. She was a decent fighter, his crush, but he had lost his sleep more nights than he could count after she had a sore throat and he realized that she could not perform magic without speaking. The boy had been thinking about weapons that she could grow familiar with and feel comfortable managing and batarangs seemed to be a perfect choice since they were small and deadly enough, much like her… Plus, he was pretty sure Mr. Fox could make some sweet magician shaped cards batarangs and that would be an awesome birthday gift.

— Okay, so… — he moved her fingers through the shuriken, showing her how to hold and trying to keep his voice steady. Two months now and he still hadn’t had the guts to ask her out. It was a wonder, really, that every Tuesday both of them arrived an hour earlier before everyone and he somehow still managed not to blurt out how much he liked her. — You hold right in the tip and tilt your wrist just a little, aiming the target a few millimeters higher than intended. It’s everything in this movement, really. 

Zatanna did as he said, trying to focus more on the target in front of her than in the boy breathing that, curious enough, was a little faster than usual. She tested the movement by herself a few times and threw it, missing the target entirely.

— That wasn’t so bad. — he said, quickly, fishing another batarang in his belt.

She laughed.

— It’s on the _ floor _ , Robin.

— Yeah, but it _ hit _ the target. It just didn't stuck. — he handed another one to her, reluctantly moving to her side and crossing his arms. — Here, try again.

The magician bit her lip examining the target and took two other batarangs from his belt without asking. 

— Best out of three. — she declared with a mischievous smile — What will I get if I do it right?

Robin blinked a few times, uncomfortable pressing his own neck. That was the thing with then, they flirted so much that he wasn’t sure if she was just messing or actually into him.

— A new skill? — he asked, unsure, but she laughed in mockery.

— Come on, boy wonder, I’m sure you can think of a better prize.

That made him twist his lips into a small smile, moving closer to her with a little bit more confidence. 

—  _ Come on, Z. _ — he said, in the same tone she used just now like they often did. — If you have something in mind all you have to do is ask.

— A kiss. 

That threw him out of his game and made her smile at the realization that he was blushing because of her.

— I want a kiss. Does that  _ whelm _ you? — she laughed, feeling bold, and leaned in his direction just a little bit, to torture him.

— I… no…

— No?

— I mean, yes. — Robin sighed. She was enjoying this, that vixen. 

— Should I just throw this? — the magician asked, holding the three batarangs like a set of cards with a coy smile.

The acrobat shook his head in agreement, perhaps a bit too eager. 

— Sure. — he coughed — And try to get it right, will you?

That made her giggle, the slightest pink coming through her cheeks before adjusting the position and focus herself. She wanted to get it right, not only because she kinda really wanted that kiss, or because she always wanted to be perfect in everything she did, but because she knew Robin was worried about her and she wanted to see the proud look on his face. The boy wonder loved to teach, she had gathered just as much watching him help everyone from combat lessons to homework in the cave, and she was always eager to learn, so why not? On the other hand… She kinda likes to mess with him.

Zatanna took a deep breath and he watched mesmerized as she tried to reproduce the exact movement he had shown her a few moments before, but then she holds all three in one hand again, like a set of cards, and Robin barely had the time to understand what was about to happen before she whispers “ _ tih eht tegrat _ ”, throwing the three at the same time, hitting with precision.

He looked at her like he couldn’t believe.

— That’s cheating! 

She shrugged, looking completely pleased with herself.

— What can I say? I really like to win, plus, you should never trust a magician. — said the girl, grinning — Now, I believe you owe me something.

— Sure. — Robin walked towards her, standing almost close enough for them to kiss, and thanking for all the self-control he learned to have with Batman. — You can have your kiss saturday when I pick you up after drama rehearsal and take you on a proper date.

She blinked.

— That wasn’t the deal.

—  _ What can I say, Zee? _ — he shrugged, quite pleased with the appalled look on her face, and walked towards the door knowing that their colleagues would arrive soon —  _ You should never trust a bat. _

— Technically you’re a bird! 


	2. 2018 - Depths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> After the 5 years cap between seasons, Nightwing has a bold secret plan. Zatanna isn't happy about it.

**THE MAGICIAN**

> **Latibulum** • /ɫaˈtɪ.bʊ.ɫũ/ (classical latin) (n.) • a hiding place, a safe space to hide.   
> Ex: Shadowcrest.
> 
> _extracted from Zatanna’s personal dictionary “Words Collected Around The World”_

  
  


It was like she couldn’t breathe. 

She barely heard when Dinah tried to explain what happened. There was no possible explanation for a simple mission going sideways, for a stupid stakeout mission of all things, take Artemis away from her. For Mount Justice to be in ruins.

As she tried to draw a breath and steady herself, Zatanna opened a portal from the Watchtower to Shadowcrest from pure muscle memory, not even sure if she was speaking the right words, and completely ignored Superboy and Bluebeetle's pleas for her to stay because she needed her safe space, she needed a room to put herself together because right now she was about to fall apart. The magician was shaking, choking on her tears when she collapsed on Shadowcrest’s blue goldstone floor and somewhere in the back of her mind she wonders if that’s what a panic attack feels like and should she be worried about losing control?, but the house knows better and the living room folds itself over the girl like a page from a child’s pop up book and suddenly she is in one of the secret passages, the smallest one, where she used to hide herself as a child with a blanket and a book every time something went wrong.

Months had gone by and she still cannot wrap her head around the fact that Kaldur’ann, who was once her dear friend and leader, is an enemy and now this same person took her best friend away from her. Why was she there anyway? Arty was supposed to be in California with Wally, they both were retired from this superhero life, so why did Nightwing asked this from her? Gods above, Wally… She could not fathom how it must have felt for Dick to watch his friend die, but to tell his best friend that his girlfriend died on his watch? 

She should go see them. 

She should be there for them. 

He should be there for her is her next thought, but both of them lost a friend. Except Artemis was more than a friend for her, she was the closest thing of a sister Zatanna ever had, and now she was dead.

They fought and laugh and trained together, Zatanna had shown up with a mix of ice cream and whiskey every time Artemis and Wally had a fight and Artemis had to hold her through some nights when all she could do was cry over her father and she wasn't there anymore. 

It hurt so bad.

When her father was possessed by Nabu Zatanna felt empty, this is the complete opposite. She is full of anger and pain and sorrow. Her father was alive. Without will and control over his body, sure, but alive, and one day the magician would save him, but Arty… She had never felt more powerless in her entire life. Necromancy was the one thing her backward magic couldn't do.

Why was Artemis there? Something just didn't add up and this was driving her crazy.

She needed to calm down to think straight. She needed to stop crying, stop shaking, stop panting because the air was there, she just needs to remember how to hold it. She needed her friend to not be dead.

So she breathed. She closed her eyes over her tears and breathed enough to clear her head and use a spell to calm down and think. Zatanna was a clever girl, her whole life was about looking for missing spots, diverge attention and such, she knew how to recognize a missing piece when she saw one, and something in that story just didn’t click.

• • •

  
  


**THE ACROBAT**

> _“Rushing myself to take just_ _one more s_ _tep, but when I looked up I’m right in front of a cliff”_
> 
> _(빈차 [home is far away] - Epik High) - extract from Dick Grayson’s playlist “mood.”_

  
  


Each time he makes a decision like this it's a step toward the master he swore he would never become. He may say Nightwing was a new alias to distance himself from the idea of Batman, to make his own path with his own ideals, but deep down Dick knows he is a bat through and through, darkness and loneliness lays within him. 

Nightwing was raised by Batman, he will choose to save the world every time, but that doesn't mean he won't hate himself for it. That's why he agreed with Kaldur'ann's plan without batting an eye, why he's been keeping Meg'ann in the dark and looking the other way every single time she goes a little too far with her mind powers. It's why he asked Artemis to infiltrate herself knowing she would say yes and that Wally would fucking hate him for it. Why he blew Mount Justice up, why he kept pushing Zatanna away when he wanted her close, why he lied to her.

He knew he shouldn't have, he didn't need to, she would always help him no matter what, but he was just too ashamed. Dick could see in her eyes that she missed the wonder boy he once had been and had learned long before that one could not hide things from a magician, especially a skilled one such as his childhood love, but he hoped that at least this time he could have pulled it off. He should’ve known better.

It takes only a few hours for her to show up at his apartment in Massachusetts and he knows things are about to go down because she knocks and she never knocks. It’s their thing. Dick always shows up by her window, Zee always comes through a portal, they never let each other know that they are going, but somehow they always seem to know anyway. He is pretty damn sure it’s just a courtesy knock and that she will explode the entire damn thing (the door and his whole security system) if he tries to ignore it, but he would never. Still wearing his Nightwing stealth suit he jerks the door open and one look is enough to tear his heart into pieces because he made her cry. The realization is just another one in a long list of All The Things Nightwing Has Fucked Up, but he used to be the one that made her laugh and doing the opposite feels so wrong and unnatural he almost wants to take it all back. _Almost._

Dick loves Zatanna, he always had, but he can't afford the luxury when The Light is on the rise. 

His magician looks destroyed and terrifying. Her eyes are all puffy from crying, but they also lighten up in the most mesmerizing purple, the same purple it gets when she is furious or performing a really hard spell. His money is on the first.

— Zee, I… — he starts, but she storms right past through him.

— No, you don’t get to call me that. — she turns around looking him dead in the eyes — And you don’t get to lie to me and insult my intelligence by saying you were going to tell me because we both know that you weren’t. You were about to let me believe she was dead!

The air around them is a little bit thicker and the acrobat can feel the energy flowing from the magician, full of sadness, disappointment, and rage. Empathy is one of her powers he likes best, even if she doesn’t know how to fully control it yet, because it turns their most intimate moments in something from another world. He always loved how Zatanna trusted him enough to show her feelings, but right now it’s suffocating. He deserves it, though, he knows it.

— I fucked up big time, Zee… Sorry, Zat…

— Why? — she cuts him, voice cold as ice but her shoulders are shaking — Why couldn’t you trust me on this? You lied to me, Dick! You manipulated me into giving you that illusion charm for disguise, you said no questions asked, you begged me and I trusted you! You kept pushing me away, I asked if you needed help if everything was ok… — Zatanna runs both hands through her hair looking like she is fighting an urge to scream but when she speaks again her voice is almost a whisper. — ...you played me. You let me think there was something wrong with us.

The words hung between them as a heavyweight. He is the biggest asshole in the galaxy for hurting her like that and he wants to hold her so much he clenched his hands into fists to fight the urge to pull her close. For someone else, it might look like she was jealous, but he knows better. Zatanna didn’t want anything serious, at least not until they could put their shit together (her words) and it worked for them, it worked for years now. They would make out with other people (and Dick would try his best not think about it) but it was just that, kisses and fucking when they were far away. The emotional part, the trusting and talking and cuddling after a rough mission, that was just theirs, and he broke it by not telling her the plans and making all sorts of excuses to keep her away for the past three months. 

Zee is right, as she usually is, he cannot lie to her anymore, he shouldn’t in the first place, so Dick takes his mask off and tries to work the words around his head, looking for a place to start.

• • •

**CHALANT**

> **Lacuna** • / ləˈk(y)o͞onə / (formal english) (n.) • a blank space, a missing part, absent, unaccounted for.   
> Ex: Whatever his explanation may be, there will be a lacuna in my heart.
> 
> _extracted from Zatanna’s personal dictionary “Words Collected Around The World”_
> 
> _“I kept everything inside and even though I tried, it all fell apart. What it meant to me will eventually be a memory of time.”_
> 
> _(In the End - Linkin Park) - extract from Dick Grayson’s playlist “mood.”_

  
  


— There was nothing wrong with us, Zee. — his voice is raw, his jaw is set and even though she tries to keep her emotions at bay and shield herself from his the magician can feel his desperation clinging to her. — I need you to be sure of that.

Dick feels lonelier than ever, his spite for himself leaves a bitter taste in her tongue and his longing for her makes her chest ache. She can feel it all, his frustration, his bitterness, his fear that Wally will never forgive him, that Tim will be disappointed and most of all his relief that everything went according to plan and no one in Mount Justice got hurt. The raven-hair girl feels sorry for him but holds her ground and doesn’t bother herself with an answer because is his time to do the talking.

It’s not his favorite activity. 

Dick never minded being the center of attention and can speak very well when leading a mission or acting as the playboy millionaire ward, but he always preferred to display his feelings with actions rather than words. It’s a bat thing and she understands it (mostly), it’s actually thrilling how touchy he is, his need to always have her close when they were in the same space, hands, tights, lips touching, but not now. 

Zatanna sits on her favorite armchair by the window and ties her long hair in a knot. She fights the urge to hug a pillow and instead grabs a wing-ding on the table next to her, flipping through her fingers back and forth. She hates to pose herself like that for him, but better fidget with a deadly weapon than hold a pillow like a little kid. 

It’s a chilly night in Massachusetts and Dick’s apartment is all glass, cement and black modern stuff with silver details, it’s really antagonistic to hers but somehow, it feels like home. Bruce bought the apartment even before Dick received his MIT acceptance letter and showed Zatanna after a mission one day, he looked so proud of his son she didn’t have the heart to tell him the apartment was too fancy for a college kid. She wondered if he would be proud now. Batman sure would, but the sorceress learned to see the differences between the two personalities and she could bet her fortress that the father would be heartbroken.

He starts the story from the beginning, with Kaldur’ann discovering on his own terms that Black Manta was his father and telling Dick, they both quickly forming a dangerous undercover plan. That was almost a month after her switching teams and Jason’s death. They decided to hide everything from the Team because no one would agree with it, but someone needed to put a stop at the Light and that was as best as it gets in terms of black ops mission, the Team specialty. So Aqualad went rogue, Nightwing stepped up as the Team leader and they put the plan into motion.

Dick goes on and on, pacing the apartment with his arms crossed over his chest, voice raw and tense shoulders visible under the kevlar. He reaches the part about recruiting Artemis and his voice falters because if this thing backfires he will lose everyone he ever cared for and Wally still didn’t reply to his texts, but he keeps going and Zatanna grip on the wing-ding is so tight she cuts herself. 

The acrobat stops shorts, brows furring, acknowledging the blood that runs through Zatanna’s wrist, but she just snaps the shuriken across the room with a perfect movement, hitting a book over his head and makes a motion for him to go on while whispering a healing spell.

Dick knows better than to argue over some minor thing when he did all sorts of wrongs so he just leans against the bookcase and try to pick it up from where he left, explaining that both he and Artemis decided to keep her in the dark knowing she would volunteer and how they were almost certain that Klarion was part of the Light and he would sense her homo magi aura from a million miles away even if she disguised herself. Zatanna twists her lips at that, ready to fight back, but the boy keeps going because now that he started he cannot seem to stop. Dick goes on and on and on explaining every little detail and when it comes to an end the sky had turned from pitch black to dusk, lazy particles of light clouding his vision of the magician across his room, still seated in the armchair. 

He waits for the outburst to come, but when she speaks her voice is controlled, like the one she uses to catch the audience attention, but sharper. 

— That’s some real Batman bullshit you two did. — she rises from her seat snapping her neck. The girl roams around the room for a few seconds and walks towards him, left hand on her hip and eyes shining with fury — So let's get some things out of the way first, shall we? Number one: neither you or Artemis get to decide what I can or can’t do. You have no idea of the extent of my powers or how exactly do they work since you only have a basic comprehension of magic itself and Artemis’ is basically non-existent. 

— Witch Boy almost killed you last time, Zee!

He is fully aware that he’s screaming to a very powerful sorceress that not only is rightfully pissed off with him but also once turned Conner into a small spider for two hours just to prove a point, but Zatanna has a way of leaving him in distress so he decides he will be as chalant and he damn like and deal with the consequences later.

— That fucking brat held you for two days with your mouth sewn and you had to cut your arm to write the spell in blood, for fucks sake! I’m not risking that again!

— You are not risking shit, Dick, because is not your decision to make! — she snapped back — That was two years ago, you have any idea of what I do in the League?!

He pinched his nose at that and firmly shut his eyes to keep them from rolling. That’s not how this talk was supposed to go but is so much better than he could expect. He can deal with an angry Zatanna, is the disappointed one that breaks his heart.

— You mean you being Batman favorite surprise asset? Of course I do, you know I’ve been hacking the League system since we were kids. 

That takes a bitter laugh from her. 

— Oh, I’m sorry, are you jealous? Because last I heard you were the one keeping me at bay. — she snarls and he opens his mouth ready to shout something back, but she shakes her as giving up on the discussion and her expression goes somber again. 

Zee was never one for giving up battles, especially the ones she’s sure she can win and is that, more than anything that she can say, that makes him realize that the magician gave up on him. She is too tired, too hurt to care about whatever he thinks and he catches himself desperately trying to find something to say that can heat the fight again because maybe if they keep bantering with each other things will get back to normal, but can’t find anything. 

Dick sighs and takes half a step closer, making a motion to hold her, but she stepped back immediately, retrieving herself back to the large window and turning her back on him. Countless times he woke up to find her in the same position, bathed by the sunlight wearing nothing but one of his t-shirts, every one of those times she would sense him coming and smile to him through the reflection in the glass, but not this one. This time she bites her lip and copies his sight, eyes lost on the landscape.

— Can Meg’Ann bring him back? I could try, but with all this mess it will be almost impossible to stand close to him long enough to fix anything.

The acrobat blinks, surprised by the statement.

— You could? 

— Yeah. — she lifts a shoulder as is not a big deal — Told you don’t know the extent of my powers. 

He used to, though. But he supposes is his own fault. Why should she trust him with anything when he behaved poorly trying to keep his distance? Dick runs a hand through his neck, uncomfortable.

— Right. Yeah, she said she can do it. Artemis can probably hijack her and make it seem like is a plan. 

— Good. Call her. — she picks her own phone in her pocket. — Get Conner and Tim to come too.

— Tim doesn’t know, Zee.

— Then you fucking tell him, Dick! — she says, turning to face him — He is your brother and I know for a fact that he is worried about you! Plus, he outsmarted each one of us at least once. The kid is a genius, do you really want him figuring out the same way I did? — When he doesn’t reply she just starts typing on her phone. — Good. Then call them, I’ll work on getting Wally here and then we will clean this mess together, as it should have been from the beginning.


	3. 2018 - Endgame pt. 1

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A little bird pays Zatanna a visit.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I love Tim Drake so much I can't handle. Let me know your thoughts on him!

Tim anxiously taps his foot on the concrete and checks on his watch just a few seconds before the magician appears at the end of the street. It’s 5:17 a.m and Zatanna looks like a mess who could use the time alone to grieve, recharge and sort her feelings by herself, but Tim cannot give her the time, at least not yet.   
His brother is hell-bent on running away for some godforsaken land and there’s no way he is letting it happen. Talking to Alfred was useless since he thinks Dick knows what is best for him, but Bruce is on his side and the boy is sure that if he can convince Zee and the rest of the Team to strongly objects, they may stand a chance of convincing the stubborn acrobat.  
She cocks her head to the side when realizes him sitting on her doorstep and gives him a tired half-smile.  
— Hi, little bird.  
The magician has deep purple circles under her eyes, which are red from crying and her voice is kinda cracked but somehow she still manages to hold herself together. Tim is not one for PDA but he stands up and pulls her from a strong embrace because Zatanna is something of an older sister for him and he hates to see the ones he cares about in such pain. The boy knows what she had endured over the last few months and wishes he could handle the Dick situation by himself so she can rest, but he can’t.  
They stand like this for a while, in front of the old church converted into an apartment building that she lives, Zatanna quietly crying on his shoulder and Tim stroking her hair. It’s a little weird to be the one who comforts her since she always looks so posh and put together, but she quickly recovers and takes a step back, wiping her tears away.  
— Very nice of you not to break into my apartment like the rest of your family. — she messes his hair for good measure and leads into the elevator.  
— Didn’t wanted to turn into a frog or something.  
— I would never be so dull.  
The boy grins, side glancing her way.  
— And I wouldn’t dare to surprise a witch.  
— Not a witch. — she says and whispers “nepo”, opening her penthouse door with magic.  
— Course not. So I wouldn’t be turned into anything of the sorts?  
— A regular person would be incarcerated onto another special dimension — she shrugs — But I am very fond of bats, all of you have a free pass.   
His eyes go wide and he smiles sheepishly.   
— Thanks, Zee. I promise to still knock first.  
The girl nods and robotically goes around the house, getting rid of the gloves and boots, opening the curtains and let the sunlight in through the stained glass just to shut them again in an abrupt way as if she doesn’t deserve to see something beautiful in the present moment.   
Tim learned at the very beginning that Zatanna could pull a poker face better than Batman himself when she felt like it, so he learned to read her emotions through her actions. When you share a house, even one as big as the Wayne Manor, with a teenager sorcerer that happens to sort of date your older brother who likes to play with deadly sharp objects when he’s mad, you learn to navigate around people any way you can. Right now she is forcing herself to hold her emotions at bay, not wanting to worry the boy that she insists that he is. Knowing is a lost battle try to argue with her he just makes his way across the kitchen and starts to fuss around the cabinets.   
— Go ahead and take a bath, Zee. I’ll make breakfast. 

• • •

Tim knows she spent the night at Wally’s parents comforting Artemis and making sure they had everything they needed so she probably didn’t catch any sleep, only leaving when Jade appeared to take her place. She is always taking care of everyone in her own way, even if is behind their back — it took the boy two months to notice the barely visible drawings inside his suit and all over his gear: sigils made by the magician to improve his abilities and keep him safe — so he tries to return the favor and goes around the apartment making sure everything is in order. It’s the least he can do.  
He makes pancakes, eggs and two pots of coffee and sets everything on the table, then he waters the plants and lights one of the scented candles because Zatanna is crazy about the stuff, soon there’s nothing else to do and he just keeps going in circles, peeking at curious objects around the room.  
Every detail at the magician’s apartment is odd. The place is an old gothic cathedral that Zatanna was sad to know it was going to be demolished, so Bruce bought to her as an anniversary gift saying that perhaps she could transform into her own theater for the magic shows. Instead, she converted into the most whimsical apartment building he ever saw, clearly relying on magic to make it work, and rented some of the places for local artists at a pretty low price, leaving others empty for members of the Team and League and keeping the penthouse to herself.   
The kitchen is integrated with the living room, an island made of dark marble with old golden stools separating them. The four-part rib vault is painted dark blue with golden stars that blink ever so slightly and the walls between the arched stained glass windows are half cream and half a deep pastel purple, there are astronomical maps hanging on the walls, palmistry engravings and other prints he can’t understand, flowers, crystals and candles in every surface. A comfortable purple couch and a deep blue Persian rug with burgundy and golden details. In the cozy indentation that he doesn’t remember how is called there’s a wall full of old books and endless magical objects, a comfortable teal reading chair and some light pendants made of agates and iridescent glasses that look like crystal formations. Everything in the room has Zatanna’s signature touch and is quite impressive.  
He is in his fourth cup of coffee when the illusionist appears again wearing a knitting sweater long dress and wet hair. She looks worse than before and Tim is sure she was crying in the bathroom.  
— I must really look like shit if you bothered with pancakes. — she says flatly.  
— You really lost one of your best friends, witch, I think you are entitled to. I’m really sorry about Wally, we all are.  
The need to emphasize the “really” is not lost on them, but Zatanna just shakes her head and sits on a stool pouring herself some coffee.  
— Thank you, Tim. Is really sweet of you to come to check up on me, but you should be with your brother.  
— You are my family too. — he puts a few pancakes on her plate and forces himself to eat too so she can follow his example. Zatanna is always snapping with him for his lack of appetite and neither of them needs this argument right now.  
He states that so naturally that her blue eyes quickly fill with tears, but the magician blinks them away and smile as a thank you. She cried enough in the bathroom already, so much that now she has a massive headache that cannot be fixed by simple medicine, her potions cabinet is empty and she is afraid that performing any kind of spell will make her pass out.  
They eat in silence and Zatanna watches him carefully. She really loves this kid, he is far too precious but right now she just wants to be alone, so she chews her pancakes dutiful even if she is not hungry at all and they feel like plastic inside her mouth. Tim eating is something of a miracle and she is sure he’s only doing for her sake, so she tags along waiting for him to get the guts to tell why he is really there. The boy is worried about her, sure, but there’s something more.  
— I know you have a lot on your plate right now — his eyes don’t meet hers, he is clearly mortified of talking anything that is not Wally fading away. — But I just wanted to let you know that Dick is quitting the Team.  
Zatanna blinks, taken aback.  
— To join the League?  
The League has had an open invitation for him for the past two years, but he categorically refused, she wasn’t expecting him to come around, especially now.  
— To go away.   
It takes a few moments for the news to sink in but when it does she rises to her feet, suddenly needing more than before to get rid of the little bird in her apartment. The idea of Dick leaving the Team and everything behind is preposterous and she can’t deal with it at the moment.   
— Oh. — she sighs, feeling very exhausted — Tim, I… Thanks for coming but I need to be alone right now. I need to sleep and let my body recharge.  
The boy bites the inside of his cheek but nods.  
— Will you call me if you need anything?  
— Sure.  
Zatanna barely registers anything after that. Tim kiss her temple and gives her a hug murmuring for her to take care of herself, but she is already drifting away on the couch, her body finally giving in after a hard battle and an excruciating night holding Artemis while the girl cried her heart out.


	4. 2018 - Endgame pt. 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Dick is hellbent in going away, but first he has to say goodbye

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tim should just lock them in a room.

**CHALANT**

>   
> **Ineffable** • /ˌɪnˈef.ə.bəl/ (english) (a.) • too great or extreme to be described by words, all-consuming.  
> Ex: Missing Wally.  
> extracted from Zatanna’s personal dictionary “Words Collected Around The World”
> 
> “Death doesn’t discriminate between the sinners and the saint, it takes and it takes and it takes.”  
> (Wait For It - Hamilton Original Broadway Cast) - extracted from Dick Grayson’s playlist “KF”

  
Thinking in retrospect, Dick should’ve expected it.  
No one knows when to give up in the Bat-Family and Tim wasn’t one for good measure, he had laid his discontent with his older brother decision out in the open from the very start. So when everyone had screamed their lungs out, mad at Dick for leaving the Team and Tim had stayed in the far corner of the room, arms crossed over his chest looking like the very definition of nonchalance, Dick should have guessed.  
When Conner seemed about to throw a fit, Bluebeetle shouted in a Spanglish so fast it almost looked like he was rapping and Meg'Ann gently broke over his mental defenses and tried to talk some sense out of him only to find refusal and Tim just sighed and went as far as making excuses for them to leave, Dick should've been sure.  
And when the only thing his younger brother asked was for him to stay one last night so they could have a last sunrise patrol after the Wayne Foundation Dinner Party, he thought the boy had finally understood.  
Tim, however, always had more plans than letters in the alphabet to rank them. He would never let it be that easy.  
So when Zatanna quietly opens the door to Dick’s bedroom in the Manor the older bat just chuckles, because honestly, Tim is a piece of work. It's touching how much the young boy wants him to stay, he wishes he could.   
Dick finishes closing his backpack and the illusionist closes the door behind her without a sound like she has done a thousand times before and leans against it, eyes roaming all the details in the room before setting on him.  
— That’s a ridiculous small backpack, even for a guy who only wear four colors.  
— Well, is still two more than you, Zee. — he grins, good-natured  
— Yeah, but I look absolutely striking in black and white.  
Dick rests a hand over his heart as in pain.  
— Ouch, Zatara.   
She gives him a soft chuckle and crosses the room, climbing on his bed and taking his sore knuckles on her hand with a worrying gaze. Things got better between them through the months they had to work together, by no means it was perfect, but definitely easier.  
The sight of Zatanna on his bed brings a bunch of memories, but not lustful ones. Instead, he is reminded of all of the original Team spread across his bedroom once he finally had permission to trust his identity to his friends and they started to come over. Conner would be on the armchair with Mega’nn on his lap, Kaldur almost certainly would be laying on the floor while Artemis could never leave the bench on the window and Wally would have the bed to himself for a minute or two before Zatanna push him over to sit on the edge, playing with Dick’s hair. He would give almost anything to go back to those days.  
— I was going to find you later. — he says unable to stand the idea that she might think he was going to leave without talking to her fist. He had learned his lesson. — I wanted to talk to you yesterday, but you were with Artemis.  
Zatanna whispers a spell, gently healing some small cuts on the back of his hand and lifts her gaze, ice blue eyes meeting sapphire ones.  
— I figured as much. — she bites her lower lip — You look like shit.  
— And here I was thinking you were about to sweet talk me to stay.  
— I’m sure that was Timmy’s plan. I was a mess so he couldn’t bring himself to really ask, but he doesn’t want you to leave, Dick. Neither do I. — the illusionist catches her lower lip between her teeth and for a moment she appears to be considering, but then sighs and stands walking to his dresser. She catches an old photo of all of them beaten and bruised after a paintball game, stupid grins all over their faces. She misses those times, the easy friendship and laughter. — But I get it.   
The statement itself makes her insides clutch and she hates, hates, hates the idea of Dick leaving, but is the only scenario that makes sense. Wally was his best friend, they started the Team together, fighting side by side and being there for each other when their mentors couldn’t. She knows Dick like the palm of her hand, he cannot handle this, another lost, while preoccupied with everyone else.   
He needs space.  
She needs to let go.  
She wants to tell him how much she misses Wally already, how painful is to see Artemis and Barry grieving and how powerless she feels in this situation, she wants to put into words how the world suddenly seems dull without their friend laugh and silly jokes and most of all she wants him to help her wrap her head around the idea, around the fact that Wally is dead, because it just doesn't feel like it. He disappeared out of thin air, people just don’t do that, they don’t do don’t do don’t do, people don’t just vanish. They die and leave a body or they go somewhere and take the body with them, so where did he go?  
He catches her by the waist a millisecond before her first choke, so used he is to her body language, and then they’re crying and holding on to each other and whispering confusing and strangle words about what the hell are they supposed to do now that everyone’s favorite person is not around anymore.  
It feels so good to hold her.  
It feels so, so good to have her warmth against him, her arms around him and her face on the curve of his neck that Dick can even picture a future where he isn’t so broken, but then he remembers how this morning he texted Wally a funny dream he had and how for a moment he thought Wally would text back and how he can never, ever, text back and Dick is crying even more, holding Zatanna to the point of hurting her, but she doesn’t complain, she never does, she just hold him tighter and tighter until it becomes hard to breathe for a different reason.  
They stay like that, crying in each others arms until Bruce politely knocks on the door, but even then Zatanna grabs a hold of his hand, pushing her tears away with the other and opening a sad smile to her guardian.  
She bids them goodbye and gives each a kiss on the cheek and when Dick holds her in place for a moment longer asking if he can see her later she gives him a soft smile and a kiss on the lips.

•  • •

> **Mirifical** • / (ˈ)mī¦rifə̇kəl/ (english) (a.) • amazing, miraculous, wonderful..  
> Ex: He makes me feel mirifical.
> 
> _ extracted from Zatanna’s personal dictionary “Words Collected Around The World” _
> 
> “You’re the closest to heaven that I’ll ever be and I don’t wanna go home right now   
>  (...) When everything's made to be broken, I just want you to know who I am”
> 
> _ (Iris - Goo Goo Dolls) - extracted from Dick Grayson’s playlist “annataZ” _

There’s a half-eaten mushroom masala take out over the center table, her plants are almost dead and there are clothes where they are not supposed to be, but Zatanna can't find within herself the strength to clean any of it. 

Instead, she sits in the middle of the dark living room, Fleetwood Mac blasting through her speakers in an attempt to ground herself, wearing her most comfortable pajamas (an oversized black shirt) and rolling an old Leprechaun's gold coin between her fingers.

Her trained eyes are on an eleven-dimension holographic map opened in front of her, but it doesn't take much to sense his presence. The Abbey may not be as powerful as Shadowcrest, but still responds to her, a whispered word and the intruse is harnessed by invisible hands and thrown in front of her, his smirk reflecting the lines of the map.

— That was pathetic.

— Oh, please. — Dick Grayson, playboy millionaire, grinned crossing his arms under his head as if it was all part of a major plan — I’m a trained acrobat.

She laughs, once again astonished by his ability to make everything go away.

It’s been like that from the start. From the moment she walked into the Cave for the first time and he tiptoed behind Wally and Conner to get a better look at her she had felt a pull at his direction, and since then Dick’s smile has always been a better grounding method than any music or raw crystal.

When her father was taken away from her and she was so terrified by the nightmares that she could only fall asleep after performing a ridiculous amount of spells to drain herself, he was the one who suggested combat training instead and carefully put together a playlist with soothing music to help her dive into oblivion. 

Dick would show up every night (or make sure someone would if some bat-thing got in the way) and train with her, then would make sure she ate something and put her to bed. On the tough nights, he would even climb into bed with her, telling stories about his parents and the Circus until she safely found sleep in his arms with no nightmares. For that and countless other little things, she was forever grateful.

— A penny for your thoughts — he asks after a while.

If it was any other person Zatanna would answer something mischievous and enigmatic but is her wonder boy, she never minds being real with him.

— I’m thinking that you have my favorite smile and that I haven’t seen it for quite some time. I’m thinking that I miss this and I’ll miss it even more after tonight. — her words have him moving into a sitting position, legs crossed and chin resting on the sorceress's knees, tracing intricate patterns on her tight. — Hcum oot uoy evol I taht gnikniht m’I and that I should have tried to sweet talk you.

Her icy blue eyes never leave his. 

Dick is hanging into every word that comes out of her mouth, barely registering that part of it was said backward. By now he is almost fluent in the backward language and knows it's something she does when she feels overwhelmed, but that she declares her love in the form of a spell just makes everything more special. It is not the first time she says the words, but on the verge of everything that happened and how he thought he had lost her for good, it warms his heart in a way he hadn’t expected to feel so soon.

The acrobat slightly traces a known pattern on her left thigh, an intricate continuous line that she'd drawn with lipstick years before on his chest. A love sigil made by her to allow him to feel what she was feeling at the moment. The drawing he makes doesn’t have magical properties, but he kisses the invisible lines after he finishes and knows she understands it.

— Tut kamav too, Zee. Always had. — he says getting on his knees to look her closely but instead of the soft smile Dick kind of expected, Zatanna makes a funny face.

— Ugh, you know Romani is not fair, Grayson! — she pouts, slapping his shoulder — Is too sexy.

The boy laughs, pushing her into his chest pinning her down the carpet.

— Oh, I know is sexy, I heard you speak countless times.

— Whatever. Yours is smoother.

Dick arches a brow in response and lets his eyes run over the magician’s body to make clear what he thinks is actually smooth. 

He had never seen anyone so beautiful.

It is no secret that Zatanna could make krolotean sound sexy if she wished to, Dick had seen more than a few men (and women) actually dropping stuff and gagging at her presence, turning into absolutely hormonal teenagers. Once she appeared in the middle of a battle against an evil speedster when Flash was out of space and it was all it took for Inertia to slow down enough to get hit and taken into custody by Green Lantern.

It wasn’t just the pale blue eyes and raven hair or the damned curvy body and her insistence on wearing bowties and fishnets that drove every poor soul insane, but her charm. Zatanna has a way of carrying herself that attracts every eye in her direction, she has a magnetism that makes it impossible to not want to know or please her. The fact that she literally shivers under him when his eyes rest on her lips is equal parts blessing and thrilling.

— Are you distraught, Mistress of Magic? 

His voice is bedroom-soft sending electricity through her body and making her swallow hard. It’s been so long since they last been together, she misses his touch.

— I’m perfectly traught, thank you very much. 

The bastard leans a little bit more in her direction and cocks his head to the side in a bird-like way.

— Is that so?

The sorceress narrows her eyes in a way that could send a lesser man running, but Dick looks completely pleased with himself and his smirk alone is enough to make her decide her course of action. They were teasers from the start, why it should be different this time around?

Zatanna stops the effort to control her breathing, completely dropping the act and slowly drags a nail by the side of his torso, underneath his shirt. The way his sapphire eyes go a little cloudy and he works his jaws brings a half-smile to her face.

— Hm… Maybe. — the sorceress purrs applying just a little more pressure to her touch and adjusting herself under him — And you, boy wonder, are you feeling overwhelmed?

Dick growls at the word grabbing her waist with enough force to leave a mark. She giggles and bites her lip, every inch of her body dominated by a never-ending wave of electricity.

— Oh, I’m whelmed alright, sorceress. — he says, closing the distance between then with a breathtaking kiss.

The kiss is deep and somewhat desperate, not the kind you usually start and has the temperature rising faster than she can say Arabadacarba. Dick’s hands are everywhere pressing her hot skin and pulling herself as close as humanly possible, his heavy body pressed against hers and the holographic map long forgotten.

They move as a unit, as two people who have danced together their whole lives and know every step of the way. She quickly discards his shirt and moves her hand through his back sending shivers up and down his spine, her tongue setting a new lazy pace, in return Dick cups her left breast, thumb playing with the nipple under the fabric. 

The feeling has she pressing her tights in pleasure, which makes him laugh. She bites his collar turning his laugh into a groan, his arousal pressing against her stomach.

— Why am I still wearing clothes, Grayson? 

— Always impatient…

Zatanna moves so fast it caught him off guard. One minute she is safely pinned under him, the next they're in a sitting position, her legs firmly around his waist and her arms freeing herself from the shirt.

— Should I put it back? — she asks innocently.

Lace. 

Of course she is wearing fucking lace under the damn pajamas. Fucking dark blue lace, to be more precise, the exact color of his uniform, and by the look in her eyes, that's exactly why she choose it.

The little minx.

He’ll make her pay for that in a few minutes but right now Dick shuts his eyes and takes a deep breath trying to calm his senses to not have his way with her right there and now over a fucking carpet. It is a particularly hard thing to do when the hottest girl he ever met is moving her hips against him. He could be a really patient man when missions were concerned but she always had a way to drive him crazy.

She smiles coyly when he opens his eyes again and rests her long fingers over his chest. Zatanna's eyes never leave his when she starts to contour the scars spread across his skin, covering them with light kisses and alternating the kisses with featherlike bites, giving him time to catch his breath.

He enjoys the view by roaming his hands from her calves all the way to her neck, sapphire on ice when his hands find her hair, one pulling it back and the other caressing her blushing face.

— God, you are perfect — he whispers smiling when not just her face, but also her torso turns pink. Zatanna blushing is one of his favorite sights. — Tooti san pakvora.

She rolls her eyes and looks away for a moment blinking back the tears because he is incredibly sexy but also ridiculously soft and sometimes is just too much. 

She loves him too much and he is leaving for god knows how long and they are wasting time talking. 

— So is this your thing now? Talking during sex? I thought it only happened in bad porn — she mocks with a playful smile, and just like that they are back in the game. 

Nightwing eyes go instantly dark and he halts gracefully, carrying her to the bedroom with a smile that is full of promises. 

They don't waste any more time.

In a matter of seconds, she is pressed against her bedroom door and his mouth is on hers. The sorceress breaks the kiss only to whisper an impatient "nepo" to his belt but Dick's mouth moves quickly to her breasts, her bra lost somewhere on the floor, his tongue doing wicked things to her nipple.

She bites his shoulder to keep herself from moaning too loud and wrap her hand around his length, the air getting thicker thicker thicker in the room, no amount of training and running can prepare her for the effect that a sweaty Dick Grayson has on her breathing.

They fall on the bed in a complete mess, not an inch of their bodies without touching and when Dick’s mouth find the place between her legs it’s only a matter of minutes before she can’t take it anymore, moving herself swiftly to exchange positions, sitting on his lap with her eyes closed and a loud moan that has both of them moving in a frantic rhythm until they reach a crescendo together and she collapses on top of him exhausted, but with a lazy smile on her face that mirrors his. 

•  • •

She falls asleep in his arms, legs tangled and head resting against his chest. He can’t stop looking at her or stroking her hair. She is the most beautiful woman he had ever laid eyes on.

Dick is well aware that this behavior is borderline creepy, but he doesn’t have much time so he indulges himself. He is grateful for her understanding and most of all, he is grateful that she had found within herself to forgive him.

The room is still dark when he climbs out of bed without waking her and dresses the extra Nightwing suit that she keeps in her closet for emergencies. Dick makes sure to tidy the apartment and stools for a minute or two before running his fingers through her face, knelt beside her bed. 

— Zee? — he calls softly — The bats are waiting me for patrol, I have to go.

She keeps her eyes close, but hums a protest and scrunches her nose in an adorable way that makes him smile.

— I'll be in touch, I promise.

— Tell Timmy I did my best, ok? 

Dick laughs at that. There's no way he'll talk to little Timbo about that.

— You know I don’t kiss and tell. — he kisses her forehead and her lips before standing up — Sweet dreams, Zee. 

The acrobat is already at the window and about to jump when she finally opens her eyes.

— Be safe, ok?

He stops midjump, one foot dangling in the air.

— You have to say it backward.

— Efas eb, Nightwing. — Zatanna concedes clipping a strand of hair behind her ear.

He blinks with just one eye with a charming smile and moves his lips without a sound before jumping from the window. 

Zatanna doesn’t need to hear the words to know what he said, it’s the same as always: “Now it’s a lock” the signature answer every time she blesses him with a spell.

She hopes it will be enough.


End file.
